Introduction
Alternative medicines are those medications that are said to have similar healing effect to medicine but they have not yet been proven scientifically, to add on this alternative medicines have not yet been incorporated into the medicine curriculum in schools These type of medication vary from therapies to health care products and practices (Barrett, 2003, p. 424). However since alternative medicines are not scientifically proven, there are many side-effects associated with them. Therefore, this essay shall cover the negative effects of alternative medicines, the paper shall also cover the benefits of conventional medicines over the alternative medicine.
One of the main disadvantage of alternative medicine is that it may lead tow undesired side effects, one of the main advantage of testing the conventional medicine is to ensure that there are no side effects associated with the medicine. However alternative medicines are not tested for this side effects, this has a potential of generating side effects a notion which professionals dealing with alternative medicine try to refute by claiming that it since alternative medicines are natural they are not harmful (Barcan, 2011, p. 42). Another disadvantage of alternative medicine is they are not reliable, alternative medicines are often used for the purpose of complementing alternative medicines. Thus during serious illness conventional medicines are preferred over the alternative medicines. Another disadvantage of alternative medicine is that their treatment regime takes a lot of time hence in order to heal the disease alternative medicines are used for longer period of time, with this in mind alternative medicines cannot be used to treat serious ailments that require quick drug intervention. Alternative medications have high tendencies of counteracting with the conventional medication, this can cause serious harm to the patient, and hence it is not advisable to use both medication at the same time. In order for alternative medication to have the desired effect it requires a lot of dedications in terms of time and lifestyle. Most of the treatments using the alternative medicines require that patients change their lifestyle and eating habits if they require positive results, this may prove to be challenging to many people (Flaws, B., & Sionneau, 2001, p. 88).
Western medicines have various advantages over the alternative medicines, the first advantage of western medicine is that they are passed through a series of tests in order to eliminate the possibility of encountering side effects while treating the patients. This increases the assurance that the western medication is better than the alternative medication. The medical equipment and technology used in western medication is more advanced compared to those used in alternative medication (Lahans, 2007, p.14. This helps in increasing the certainty of the illness, thus treating patients accurately is possible with western type of medication. Most of the medication provided by western medicine practitioners are used in eliminating symptoms associated with the ailment which is being treated, this allows the patient to return to the normal state as soon as possible. Therefore western medicine allows for quick recovery unlike alternative medication which takes a lot of time. In western medication practitioners are trained through a rigorous practice that ensures that they are well versed with their profession, they also have professional bodies that help regulate the practice ensuring that high standards are maintained. In the other hand the alternative medical practice is not highly regulated, this lowers their credibility.
Reference
Barcan, R. (2011). Complementary and alternative medicine: Bodies, therapies, senses.
Oxford: Berg
Barrett, B. (2003). Alternative, complementary, and conventional medicine: Is integration
upon us?. The Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine.
Flaws, B., & Sionneau, P. (2001). The treatment of modern Western diseases with Chinese medicine: A textbook & clinical manual. Boulder, Colo: Blue Poppy Press.
Lahans, T. (2007). Integrating conventional and Chinese medicine in cancer care: A clinical
guide. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
